Compared to air of the same temperature, water carries heat away from your body about 25 times faster. If the water temperature is near 90 F° (32.5° C) you will be able to maintain body heat. If it is any lower, you will become chilled. Dress for the temperature, just as you would when leaving your home on either a hot day or a cold one. In water, maintaining body heat is critical to your total comfort. When diving in cool or cold water, we need thermal protection – usually a wetsuit. A dive skin (thin stretchy material) can also be used. Remember that 80-degree F. water is still nearly 20 degrees below your body temperature. The material in the neoprene wetsuit provides insulation to reduce the loss of heat from a diver’s body. If the water is too cold for a wetsuit, many divers switch to a dry suit, which keeps the diver dry, making it possible to withstand much colder conditions. Dry suits, while providing superior insulation in cold water, require additional training to be used properly and safely.

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